On Fri, 11 Mar 1994 [log in to unmask] wrote:
 
> Geez...why do you think that the suit was filed in Maine? Could it possibly
> be that Hockey East is headquartered down the street in Orono?
 
Well, although the league officeis in Orono, up until now that
was where the commissioner and assistant commissioner had their offices.
 
However, currently the acting commissioner has his only office in North
Andover, Massachusetts, several hours away from Orono, and the assistant
commissioner has resigned.  At the very least, that the suit was filed in
Maine gives the University an advantage of time and convenience, if not
outright local sympathy.
 
> This whole thing is ridiculous...Maine certainly was not the worst team in
> Hockey East this season, and to believe so is ignorant and stupid.
 
I'm not sure who is saying so.
 
 Forfeits
> don't make the season, and whatever the eligibility status of Jeff Tory, Cal
> Ingraham, and Patrice Tardif, you can't say that any one of them made a
> significant difference in the quality of the UMaine team.
 
Actually, they DO.  Whether the infractions involved did or did not
increase the quality of the Maine team ends up being irrelevant, because
the eligibility requirements are designed to be applied uniformly.  It's
an easy argument to set up a straw man and say that neither Tardif nor
Tory are Gretzkies or Fedorovs.  But the requirements don't prevent Maine
from using *great* ineligible players, or NHL-quality ineligible
players, but *all* ineligible players.
 
> of intent to play up here. It seems to me like a whole bunch of schools are
> tired of being beaten on by UMaine, and this irrational fear is causing this
> raft of negative publicity and voting against us. And don't think it's just
> HE schools doing it...don't forget about the NAC shafting the women's basket-
> ball team. It's all politics, and it's ridiculous........
 
I'd say it's as much homering as anything else to say that sanctions are
being taken because other teams just don't want to play Maine. However,
I'd say that Maine's recent dominance in hockey coupled with the
appearance of ineligiblity incidents does tend to make people wonder.
That is *not* to say that Maine's teams were good because of the
infractions. But it does seem that the NCAA will be investigating the
program further.
 
What it amounts to is insufficient amounts of care and prudence at
various administrative levels.  Itis unfair that those who will bear the
brunt of the punishment are the athletes themselves.  But if the students
at Maine wish to point fingers, it should be at their own administration
and not at HE. Since NCAA regulations exist to govern all the teams, the
ultimate sanction against a team that has broken that rules (no matter at
what level) is to deny them an opportunity to play.  This is what HE has
done within their own structure.  Fair or not, it may very well turn out
to be within their authority to do so.
 
 
David M. Josselyn
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